Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been a cold morning on Copper-9 like every other morning since the planted had been covered in a never ending winter, in a far away colony of Worker Drones hidden under the snow and dirt, protected by three heavy doors slept a Teen Worker in her cozy bed surrounded by a army of plushies keeping her company and watching over her as she rested. Sure the doors built by the WDF were meant to keep the horrors of the Murder Drones that haunted them out but Melody slept easier with her plushies beside her. 

She wanted to stay in her bed all that as it was too comfortable to wake up and go out, it was much nicer in there, she even ignored her morning alarm and turned it off instead of putting it on snooze but alas the door to her room opened and let in the light from hallway, would barely let her, a voice rang from her door way equally not intend on letting her continue her sleep in and waste the day. 

''Hey there sleepy head, you gonna miss breakfast if you don't wake up!'' A cheerful voice called out to her, the voice belonging to her older brother Thad. 

She would bring her blanket to cover her head and shield her from the light ''Hmmm, 5 more minutes pls. I'm still eepy Thad.''. 

''Sure if you want but I don't think you'll have time to eat in peace and get to school.'' He replied to her request still with the happy tone in his voice. 

''Okay! I'll be there.'' She answered him as she slowly rose from her bed to and rubbed her visor like a Human would rub their eye's. 

Thad left and closed the door behind him as he left his sister to her morning routine, she got out of bed making sure not to disturb any of her plushies on her way off it, she then made her way to her bathroom to comb her hair and after that switch from her pink, cute bunny pajamas to her cheerleading uniform. Ready to start the day she went out to join her brother on having a nice meal before heading to school. 

She grabbed a bowl and filled it with batteries and coolant before sitting next to her brother and began to eat, ''Shouldn't you start your day with something, more healthier?'' Thad asked her as he was eating his thermal paste with some computer chips and a glass of coolant. 

''I'll have something healthier at school, for now sweets!'' Melody replied her sleepy self from earlier replaced by one that was equally if not more cheerful then her brother. 

''Seriously though Mel, you should start to eat less sweets in the morning. It's not good for you.'' He said as he finished his food and got up to carry his empty plate over to the sink and clean them real quick. 

''Ugh! Thad you don't have to baby me, I'm not a lil Droneling anymore.'' Melody replied with a mix of embarrassment and frustration. 

He walked back over to her, ''I know but your still my little sister.'' he gave her a head pat and kissed her on her forehead, ''And I'll always make sure to take care of you.''. 

''Oki, I guess I can eat a little healthier.'' With a newly improved mood she finished her bowl and after wards went to clean it too. As she did that she wondered if Scarlet and her other friends were also eating healthy.  

After the pair had finished their meals they got ready for school and began to head out, the way wasn't long and they chatted a little like they always did before having to split paths since they had different classes. The school day had mostly been uneventful, the typical same old classes and her cheerleader practice with the others cheerleaders and the obligatory gossip after wards not that she had much to say during those but Lizzy and Rebecca where the two who mostly talked during those anyways. 

There had been one thing though that happened that day and it was Uzi, the text book definition of the unpopular emo loner girl, blowing herself up with a self made gun she brought to school. While the others all laughed about her and expressed their disappointment that she survived, Melody had been worried about her and hoped that she didn't hurt herself too much. 

She liked Uzi and thought that she was cool from what Thad told her but of course that was something that she couldn't ever admit especially around her fellow cheerleaders, considering that the whole school except for herself and Thad saw Uzi as creepy and weird. 

After school was over she would go to meet a friend, as she walked through the hallways of the bunker she would see her friend in the distance, a purple haired Drone with classes, she was staring at her phone with a bored expression. Melody made her way to her friends side with a big smile and a slight little blush. 

''Heya Scarlie!'' She called out, grabbing her attention as she hugged her from behind. 

''Oh! Hi Mel, what's up?'' Scarlet said as she looked up from her phone with her bored expression unchanging, at least on the outside. 

''Not much, have you heard what happened to Uzi today?'' Melody asked, even though she wouldn't openly speak about liking Uzi and being worried for her. Except to her brother, she still felt that she could be a bit more honest and relaxed around Scarlet. 

''Yeah, bummer she made it.'' Scarlet answered with an apathetic tone. 

''Wha, Scarlet!'' Melody responded, not shocked that she said that but still surprised. It was noting new to her that many of the Drones down in the bunker didn't really cared about death that much, and she knew why but still made her feel strange. 

''What?'' Scarlet answered while rolling her eyes ''What's the difference between one more dead Drone? At least it's someone no one likes.'', she looked back at Melody only to see her looking at the ground with a sad expression on her face. Scarlet realized that this wasn't like Melody's usual behavior, she was quiet for a few seconds before speaking again. 

''Hey Mel, look I, I'm sorry if I upset you!'' Scarlet said as she placed a hand on her shoulder, she usually didn't care about how her words affected others since she saw that as rather cringe. Or at least that's how she wanted it to look on the outside to everyone else but when it came to Melody, she just couldn't keep that same mask up. 

''Oh! Sorry if I got a lil emotional.'' Melody looked back up at Scarlet putting on a forced smile and trying to play off her earlier reaction, acting a bit awkward for a few seconds  

Scarlet went back to her emotionless expression while being glad to see Melody smile again, but also cursing her self for having made her feel bad earlier, ''Let's just change the subject?''. 

''Ok!'' Melody replied, ''So what have you been up to lately?''. 

''Same boring shit as always.'' Scarlet replied, the two went on to talk about various other subjects, like Human sweets and how to recreate them for Drones, plushies and Anime. 

''Say Scarlet think we could go to my dorm one day and hangout there? And you know try to bake some Human sweets like cupcakes?'' Melody asked as she walked through the hallway with her friend. 

Scarlet gave her a confused look ''Uh, Melody. Why exactly would we bake Human sweet's? We don't eat the same stuff like they do.''. 

''Oh. Well you see, we could try to convert the recipe to fit our diet.'' Melody said nervously. 

''Guess we could try. While were in your dorm, we could also watch that one Madoka Magica show you showed me, to pass the time.'' Scarlet suggested, to which Melody's eye display changed to stars. 

''That sound amazing Scarlet!'' She said with a lot of joy in her voice, ''Oh do you like plushies too? I have a lot in my room, they make it feel so cozy and comfy when I sleep at night!''. 

''Plushies?'' Scarlet's tone sounded surprised when she heard that, ''I never thought about them, guess I could try to lay in your bed for a few second when we hangout, just to see how it feels.''.

They went like that to the end of day and said their goodbye's before separating to go to their respective homes, Melody waved Scarlet goodbye before leaving. A smile snuck it's self on Scarlet's usually emotionless face and she gave a small wave back.

Once Melody arrived home she was greeted by her brother and the two shared a meal before going to bed for the night, this time they both had a healthy meal just like she promised her brother this morning, as they ate Thad did noticed that she seemed more energetic then usual but decided not to question her further on it. He was simply glad to see when ever his sister seemed to have a more happier day.

She want down the hallway to her bedroom giggling and skipping a few steps, once she got to her room she quickly changed to her pajama and jumped onto her bed, her feet kicking in the air as she hugged her pillow, it all shaved up to be like any other night and she fell fast asleep. Things would change however as in the middle of the night a loud alarm went off in the whole colony waking everybody up. 

Melody was confused at first not quite understanding what was going on, until she slowly started to recognize that sound of the alarm, it was the exact same one a couple years ago when the Door's weren't fully built yet and the Disassembly Drones got into the bunker, she was a lot younger back then but still remembered the sound of the alarm clearly since that day she and her brother lost their Parents. 

Melody's breathing started to become heavy bordering on hyperventilating, until Thad came through her door into her room, he quickly ran over to her and took her by her hand ''Mel quick, we have to get out of here to the evacuation spot!'', she didn't say anything, she only got out of her bed and followed him out of their dorm. 

They kept running down the halfway and more Drones joint them, it slowly started to get crowded and harder to stick together until it happened, Thad's hold on his sister grew weaker before push from another Drone caused him to let go of her. He tried to turn around to and get to her, to hold her again, after all he knew that she needed to hold on to someone close to her with her panic attacks and he couldn't abandon her but the flow of the panicked and fleeing crowed was to much, he couldn't push past them to his sister no matter how much he tried. 

Melody was left behind, she tried her best to keep moving and catch up to her brother but she could only helplessly watch as he was pushed further and further from her by the surrounding Drones. She knew where they all were going, she knew that if she just focused that she would be reunited with him, she had to just keep moving and make it to the evacuation spot but her steps began to feel heavy, her breathing became irregular and panic began to take hold of her. 

She fell to her knees, bringing her arms up to cover her head and trying her best to focus her breathing only for it to get worse as the various Drones made their way past her. Soon they would all pass and leave her alone to her own devises, she wanted to get up and keep moving but no matter how much she tried she just couldn't get herself to get up from the ground, the still shrieking sound from the alarm only made it harder for harder for her to focus. All she could do was violently shake in fear as she remembered her parent's dying in front of her and her brother.  

Darkness started to creep around Melody as she began to think how she's gonna die and digital tears began to form on her visor, a voice however started to call out to her but Melody couldn't focus on it much less even notice it in the first place. The voice called out to her again closer this time, Melody again didn't respond until the source of the voice reached her and grabbed her by her shoulders. 

''MELODY LOOK AT ME!!!'' Scarlet called out to her as he forced her to look at her. 

Melody was stunned for a second when she saw Scarlet in front of her, her dark thoughts disappeared and she slowly began to feel strength returning to her body, allowing her to get up. She was to caught up in trying to catch her breath again to say anything, she only got up and held onto Scarlet as she lead them forward trying to reach the evacuation spot. 

Scarlet for her part was glad to have found Melody but she also wondered where Thad had been, since she knew he wouldn't ever left his little sister alone but now wasn't the time to think about it. She had to get herself and Melody to safety before the Murder Drones got to them, speaking of the Murder Drones, Scarlet stopped dead in her track when she heard the screams of fellow Workers and crazed laughter of one of the Murder Drones ahead of them. 

She realized that their path was blocked and going back could lead them in the arms of another one, since she didn't know how many of them were inside the bunker. She took a brief look at Melody's terrified face and made the decision to hide in one of the dorms around them, she went to the closest one, who's doors were luckily left unlocked when their previous residence left to flee. She closed and locked the door behind them and decided to go in deeper to another room just in case the Murder Drones should decide to go inside this dorm out of all the other ones. 

They hide inside one of the bedrooms and sat inside a closet, Scarlet hugged Melody close to her and she hugged her to calm her down, ''It's ok Mel, were safe here. We just have to sit it out till they leave and then we can go look for Thad.''. 

Melody didn't respond, she just sat there shacking trying her best not to let the panic get to her and hope that her brother would be fine. She was glad that Scarlet was there with her and she wanted to focus on that, to help her calm down but she just couldn't, not with the constant blare of the alarms, reminding her of the danger their were in, she went to hug Scarlet to hopefully block out the sound, in the process she pressed her face against Scarlet's chest without noticing it and Scarlet didn't say anything about it, she simply blushed and continued to hug her and pet her head.

The two were hiding away in that closet for what felt like hours to then, their worry only going away after their heard that the alarm finally stopped, they dared to leave the closed again and go back to the living room, where they could hear foot steps outside. They were hesitant at first to approach the door let alone unlock and open it but when they noticed that the foot steps sounded light and too many to be coming from the Murder Drones, it got them to work up the courage to open the door and see Workers making their way back to their homes. 

Melody looked around hoping that she could see her brother somewhere but he was nowhere to be found amongst the crowd, she could feel her panic slowly creeping back in, until she felt Scarlet rub her back, ''Well find him don't worry.''. 

Melody nodded wanting to believe her words but being to afraid to speak, as if her words could somehow jinx it. Slowly they made their way to the evacuation point taking good care to look at every Drone that past them until they meet a friend of theirs that could help them. 

''Emily!'' Melody called out, finally finding the strength to speak again. ''Emily, please tell me you have seen Thad anywhere?''. 

''O oh! Hi Mel, y-yeah I have. He's at the med bay!'' Emily spoke in a shy and hesitant tone, on one hand she didn't want to worry Melody too much but also she knew that she had to tell her about her brother. 

Melody took a step away from Emily and covered her mouth as her eyes became hollow, ''The med bay! Why, what happened to him?'' Scarlet asked as she moved to Melody's side. 

''Well the Murder Drones found us before we could evacuate and Thad got in front of them with a pipe trying to protect everyone but one of them just stabbed him in his shoulder with their metal wings and threw him at us, he's ok just a little hurt.'' Emily answered, as she spoke she could see how Melody got more worried before getting relieved to hear that he's just a little hurt. 

Melody hugged her friend and thanked her ''Thank you Emily! You don't know how worried I had been.''. 

''I know, I'm glad he's ok too. I'm sure he's worried about you too and would love to see you.'' Emily returned the hug before separating from Melody and leaving the two to go to the medical bay. 

The two moved on, this time knowing with full certainty that Thad was ok and where to find him, knowing all that Melody could walk again without having to hold on to Scarlet. As they approached the medical bay, Melody paused in front of the doors, Scarlet looked at her and took her hand to reassure her, it was a simple hand holding at first but unnoticed to the both of them. Their hands moved to interlock their fingers, Melody took a deep breath and took a step forward to the door and walking thought them. 

It didn't take her long to spot her brother as he sat in a chair and looked at his injured shoulder, she rushed immediately to him and hugged him as if her life depended on it. ''Mel!?'' Thad had been glad to see his sister and returned the hug with one hand not being able to really move the other just yet from the pain in his shoulder. 

''I'm so glad to see you, I have been worried the whole time.'' Thad said as he hugged his sister, ''Thanks Scarlet.''. She kept up her bored hipster act in front of him and didn't say anything, simply giving him a thumbs up. 

''I'm been worried about you too, I was so relieved when Emily told me you were here!'' Melody replied as she buried her face in his chest with small tears forming on her visor. It was a good thing that they were digital tears and not real ones or else she would have cried his shirt and jacket wet. 

''Heh, sorry I didn't hold on better to you.'' He moved his other hand ignoring the pain or well trying to ignore it, to give his sister a head pat. 

''Well guess I'll leave you too, to your sibling-ing.'' Scarlet said as she walked out and making her way back home. 

Thad and Melody spend a good minute just sitting there and hugging each other in silence, before the Doctor came back to check in on Thad's shoulder. After a quick look to check if it was still bleeding or would it oiling since it's oil and not blood, the siblings were free to go back to their dorm. 

Although Thad didn't need her help with walking since it was his shoulder that got hurt and not one of his legs, he didn't protest and simply let her help him since he knew she wanted to help hip and stick to him. 

Once they reached their home Thad was gonna go to his room only to be surprised when Melody was still holding on to him, he looked up at her and saw that she was looking at the floor ''Uh, Mel? Is everything ok?''. 

She had an a little embarrassed expression as she looked down ''I'm still a little scared Thad, can. Can I sleep with you tonight? I, I don't wanna be alone tonight.''. 

He simply smiled at her ''It's ok, to be honest, I'm also a little spooked from the attack.''. 

Melody smiled hearing that her brother wouldn't see her as a little kid for not wanting to sleep alone tonight, she quickly rushed to grab some of her plushies and came back to the living room where he was waiting for her. The two made their way to his room and Melody began to think back to how Scarlet was there for her and helped her, ''Hey Thad?''.

''Hmm, yeah? What is it?'' Thad asked her as he hugged her close to himself. 

''Does Scarlet go to any of your classes?'' She asked him with a little blush and hushed tone. 

A small knowing smile formed on his face ''Yeah, she is in one. Why ya got a lil crush?''. 

She panicked for a second and her visor displayed digital sweat with hollowed out eyes before she buried her face in a pillow out of embarrassment ''Maybe!'', her voice came out muffled. 

''Heh, If you want I can help you tomorrow and teach you how to rizz her up.'' Thad offered his younger sister, while finger gun pointing at her and displaying his eyes whit lower eyebrow.  

''Eeeeeeee! Thanks Thad!'' Melody replied with a bright happy tone and her hands in a clenched position under her chin. She had gotten a bit too excited and got all up in Thad's face but soon realized it herself and slowly backed away with a embarrassed laugh ''Hehe, sorry!'', Thad simply rolled his eyes with a smile at his sisters excitement. 

He turned off the light as he was still excited and handed her one of her plushies, the two would then slowly start to feel asleep hugging like they used to when they were little Dronelings. 

Chapter Text

It was a casual night on copper 9, a family of four had been walking in the snow as usual.
The faces seemed recognizable to the young girl who had her left and held by her brother.

Their parents have been talking in front of the two kids, yet she couldn’t make out their words.

Our beloved Melody had looked up to the small boy who held her hand it was her sweet brother back when he used to be taller than her.

Snowflakes fell on his hair and Melody pointed at them, “Look! Snow!”.
Thad and her parents had giggled and smiled at her words, he got rid of the snow in his hair with his free hand.
She looked up to the sky to see the planet that has reflected on their sun, like a moon. And the beautiful stars above them.

She was reminded of how beautiful the sky outside was.

And remembered the memories she made with her family, throwing snowballs at some occasions, her mother giving her plushies, her birthdays.
It was a wonderful time while it lasted.

The moments of the family walking in the snow had been stopped as in front of them one of the Sky demons had appeared, the family but the mother didn't make it far before she was caught.

Melody saw and looked away disturbed looking up to her brother that was holding her hand running with her.

They ran to a hidden corner in between the abandoned buildings.

Their father with tears in his eyes looked at them while holding the children, finally speaking something that wasn’t blurred out. “Don’t look outside.''.

''Now kids. If anything happens to me, run to an adult who can bring you to safety.” The three had tears in their eyes while hearing not only their mothers screams of terror as she was being brutally killed but also tons of other children, parents, and baby Dronelings being disassembled.

The children stayed quiet in hopes the sky demons would not find them.

Melody heard footsteps coming towards the alley near them as the screams of people continued.

The father with no other choice told them to flee.

Thad carried Melody from the area and ran with even more tears running from his face.

While running in the snow, away from the buildings tripping twice and running his fastest.

They found a group of drones going into the gates of where they live now. 

People said to get inside, so they did. 
The doors began to close as they got inside, a loud thud was heard from the outside of the door.

The two children cried as the hugged each other knowing their parents were not there or anymore.

Melody had awoken from her dream jumping from the bed.

It was earlier then she was used to waking up.

”Thad.” She tried waking him up by shaking his uninjured arm with her screen overflowing with virtual tears.

He slowly arose “Mel, are you okay?” He said concerned about her crying and comforting her while putting her blanket on her shoulders.

“I can’t..” she stuttered non stop while continuing to cry, “I can’t forget it!”.

Thad wondered if it was about his injury or something else.

”Forget what Mel?” He said placing a hand on her head and petting her.

”Our parents!” Melody said shaking while holding the two corners of the blanket.

Thad took a moment to be reminded of what happened, the day before when he got injured could’ve taken his life just like how the other Disassembly Drones had taken their parent’s.

”Melody it’s okay. They wanted us to live. I’m here for you, they told me to take care of you.” Thad said in hopes it would’ve comforted her.

He gave her a head pat before she quickly hugged him. “I remember when you said when we were younger, you said you would’ve fought the disassembly drones to protect me, I never really took that seriously, You could’ve died that day.”

The two hugged softly to avoid pain in Thad’s arm, “I know” he said as he got up from the bed.

Mel got her legs from the bed as well, still sitting down, looking at the floor still processing everything. 
“I miss the outside.” She wasn’t able to mumble the words that came from her mouth.

Her brother looked back to her. “Maybe someday, when we all are at peace.”. 
A yawn disturbed the conversation the two had, “I don’t want to go back to sleep.” Melody didn’t want to have anything that reminded her of what happened.

It had already ruined her morning and her appetite.

”Hey! Why don’t you look at those cute hamster videos you keep sending me, or, you can go talk to your girlfriend if she’s online.” Thad teased Mel about her “friendship”.

Melody had panicked blushing and burying her face behind her pillow once more. “The prom is in a week, maybe you can ask her to become your prom date.”

Blushing continued to invade Melody’s face, “Aaaghhhh stopppp!” She threw the pillow softly at him. 
The two started laughing and had a pillow fight. 
“Okay! okay!” Thad said still giggling, “I’ll go make us breakfast!” 
The two walked to the kitchen to start the day.

Melody helped her brother prepare a simple meal using thermal paste and micro chips, with Thad spicing it up a little by adding finely chopped wires.                                                                        The sibling then began a conversation as they placed the plates had their meal.

“So have you gotten any gifts for her?” Thad said before he took a bite of his breakfast.

It gave Melody an idea and she began thinking of what she could give to her.

She thought of asking Scarlet about things she really likes, to give her a better idea of what to get.

She spaced out as she thought about it, “Maybe a plushy? I don’t think she has any so I want to give her one! Maybe a cute bat?”

“Does she like bats?” Her brother asked while chewing his food.

Melody gave him a nod of approval, and finally started eating.
After their meal the two got ready and left to go out and meet with their friends, it was still early so Melody had the idea to go to Scarlet’s dorm.

Outside Scarlet’s home Melody leaned against the wall right beside her door, waiting and texting Scarlet.

Her crush was already awake having her breakfast, seeing the texts she opened her door to see Melody waving at her with a smile on her face. “Mel, what are you doing here?” 

“I felt a bit lonely so I thought maybe we could talk, hehe!” She said with the same smile she had on everyday. Putting her arms behind her back and looking at her chest.

“I’m having breakfast.” Scarlet said thumb-pointing to the back of her. Melody missed her beautiful face, she had a silly type of hers that includes goths or emos. Scarlet was most definitely one of them. She decided to let her into her dorm to talk to her. “Sit down on the table, I’ll be eating, and if you want I could make something for you too.”.

Melody sat on the chair in front of scarlet and her meal. “So, anything fun to do today?” Questioned Melody fidgeting with her fingers as she didn’t know if she could ask her about the prom.

“Nah, wish there was.” This gave Mel more ideas of how to spend time with her when the two of them have free time. Maybe they could talk to each other about their old lives and about the wonderful stars outside, waiting in the sky. 

“The prom is in a week, maybe you can do something that’s for that!” Melody said acting quickly yet choosing the option she feared most, scarlet could possibly have no interest in her and it would crush her to see her having a prom date already.

“Next week?” It seemed that Scarlett was unaware of the news.

“You didn’t know?” Melody said turning her head like a confused puppy.

“Damn time really goes by fast.” Scarlet whispered, ''Anyway Mel, how come your up this early? I thought you liked to sleep in.''. 

Melody's eyes got a bit hollow and she gave a nervous chuckle ''I. . I just couldn't sleep that's all, haha.''. 

''What, had a bad dream or something?'' She asked as she continued to chew down on her food, not really paying too much attention to Melody as she was still a little sleepy.

''Yeah. A really bad one.'' Melody replied, her head slightly lowered as she looked at the floor and her voice a bit dimmer. 

Scarlet noticed the slight chance in her voice and looked at her seeing that she didn't look like her usual self, then she remembered yesterday and figured that maybe she was still shock up from it all, ''Hey Mel!'' she said while reaching out to place her hand on her shoulder ''Sorry if I brought up any bad memories, how about we go and see if we can find some nice thing in the lower unused parts of the bunker?''. 

Melody looked at Scarlet and felt her smile return back to her ''That would be nice, thanks Scarlet.''. 

''Hey don't mention it. Let me just clean this plate real quick.'' She said as she got up from her breakfast table and walked over to the sink. 

After she was done, Scarlet and Melody left her dorm and went out to the lower parts of the bunker, there wasn't anything in particular they were looking for just looking around and seeing what they could find while hanging out together and having fun. 

They entered one of the dorms and had a look around, with Melody making her way to one of the rooms. Once she opened it she saw that it was a child's room but something in particular caught her attention, she looked up to see that the ceiling and walls were covered in stars, moon and planet stickers. 

Scarlet saw Melody in the room looking up and went to her side ''Hey Mel what ya looking at?''. 

''Oh! Uh, just these stickers of the stars.'' She pointed out. 

Scarlet looked up and saw them as well ''Hey wait a minute, I think that those maybe glow in the dark. If they still work that is.'' she said as she went to turn off the light switch. 

She turned it off and the room got dark before quickly being enveloped in a light glow of green, Melody's eyes widened as she watched every single star sticker give of it's own little light just like the real one's outside of the bunker. 

''It does still work, neat!'' Scarlet made her way back next to Melody, ''So what do you think?''. 

''I miss the stars Scarlet, the real one's outside. I miss the everything outside of the bunker, the dream I had. It was more a memory than a dream, a memory of the day the Murder Drones first came, I. . . I miss my parents Scarlet.'' Melody said, small tears formed in her visor as she looked the other way to avoid showing sadness to her beloved.

''Hey Mel, do you wanna step out for a minute? Here let me turn the light back on.'' Scarlet went to reach for the light switch again when she heard Melody tell her not to. 

''Wait Scarlet, c-can, can you help me get these off and into my room?'' Melody asked with a shaking voice. 

''Are you sure Mel? I meant wont this just cause more bad dreams and painful memories to come back?'' Scarlet stepped away from the light switch and towards her. 

''Yeah, I'm tired of it, I'm tired of having to wake up in the middle of the night with a panic attack. I.'' Tears started to form on her visor as she spoke, ''I can't get my parents back but I at least can try to take back the good memories from looking up at the stars, even if their fake. I wanna start remembering them before the attack when everything was nice and peaceful.''. 

Scarlet placed a hand on her shoulder ''Ok, let's go find a bag or box to carry them back to your room then.''. 

Melody wiped her visor and smiled at Scarlet, the two then went out to look around for something to carry the star in and quickly found a bag. Once the stars where secured they continued to look around if only to just explore and spend time together. There wasn't much else they could find as most has already been salvaged by the older Drones in the first years of retreading to the bunker but the two still enjoyed their time together. 

And while Melody wished that this could last forever, time would fly by fast as it tends to do when ever you need it to last. On their way back the two would find them self's at the intersection of the hallway where they would have to split up on their way's to their respective dorms and as it came close with every step, Melody remembered that the prom was in a few days.

''Well guess this is goodbye for today Mel.'' Scarlet when they reached the intersection.

''Yeah.'' Melody said, she began to build up her courage and turned to face Scarlet before she left ''Hey Scarlet!''. 

''Huh. Yeah Mel?'' She turned around looking at Melody, who seemed to look rather nervous. 

''I.'' She began to speak almost ready to ask the big question, ''I just wanted to thank you for being with me today.'' but in the end she couldn't bring her self to ask her out to be her prom date. 

''Hey don't worry about it Mel, you’re my friend after all!'' Scarlet replied in her typical expressionless face but her tone carried a bit of softness with it. 

''Yeah, friends. . . The best of friends.'' Melody answered back, the two waved their goodbyes and Melody went back to her dorm carrying her day's loot. 

When she arrived at her dorm she found it to be weirdly silent and quickly noticed that her brother wasn't home yet but she figured that he must have still been out with his friends, she was kind of disappointed not to see him but it also wasn't the first time she came home with him being gone. She didn't like it but knew that with them both getting older that they would start to spend more time away from each other, especially if they got partners in the future. 

But she couldn't dwell on that too long, as she decided to go to her room and start to decorate her room with the new star stickers, since she didn't feel like making breakfast without him,  once she walked to her room, she took a quick look around to get an idea of where best to place them and in what order before she then stood on her bed and started to put the stickers on her ceiling.

It took a little while to place all the stickers on the celling and walls by her bed but in the end it would all be worth it once she was done and laid down to admire the labor of her work, she still had a lot of mixed felling, leaning more on the negative side but she was also determent to archive her goal and move on from the past in a positive way. 

Something she started to do as she laid in her bed looking up at the new fake stars, was to hum to the rhythm of a song. She didn't noticed that she was doing it until a familiar voice called out to her. 

''Hey is that mom's old lullaby your humming there Mel?'' Thad asked her while leaning against her door frame. 

''Huh I was humming?'' Melody responded, the thought that she could still remember it to hum it, it was comforting but she also felt a bit sad that she wasn't even noticing her humming it. 

''Yeah you were, it's nice hearing it again.'' He took a couple steps forward and took a look at his sisters new room decor, ''Say what is with the new star set up?''. 

''Oh this, well me and Scarlet.'' She began to talk with Thad giving her a smug little smile as soon as she mentioned Scarlet's name, ''We wend to the deeper parts of the bunker and I came across them, I was reminded of the of this morning and how tired I am only remembering mom and dad on that day. So I thought that maybe taking them could help me reconnect to some happier memories.''. 

''Well it seemed to have worked considering you were just humming mom's lullaby!'' He answered while taking up the little free space is left on her bed from the thousand of plushies, ''I'm glad to hear that you wanna move on and the stars do loop pretty. Just like the ones outside.''. 

''I wish we could go outside to look at them again one day.'' Melody said reminiscing of those old day's. 

''Sure we can, I was just outside.'' Thad said casually as if it wasn't a huge bomb shell he just dropped. 

''WHAT!?!?!'' Melody yelled out once she heard that he was outside the bunker, ''THAT'S TO DANGEROUS THAD!!! WHY WERE YOU OUT THERE WHERE THE MURDER DRONES ARE???''. 

''Hey relax Mel, remember that Uzi befriended one of them and together they defeated the other two, were safe now and can actually go outside without having to fear for our lives again.'' Thad told his sister once she stopped screaming. 

''Oh right, I almost forgot that. So you went out to look at the star again?'' Melody responded with a cooler head.

''Actually I went out to ask Uzi and N's help, N is the name of the Murder Drone Uzi befriended by the way. He's a pretty chill guy, I think you'd like him!'' Thad started to talk not noticing the ever more concerned look on his sisters face, ''But anyways, I went out to ask them for help with the body of the one Murder Drone Uzi shot with her railgun. Since it started to move on it's own again and that was kinda freaky.'', at this point Melody's eyes became hollow and she tilted her head to the side a little ''But not as freaky later on when it turned into a giant centipede kind of thing and it grabbed me with a creepy Human hand. No need to worry though since N and Uzi saved me from it, so I invited them to the shindig next week.''. 

''Thad.'' Melody said in a uncharacteristically serious tone.

''Yeah Mel?''. Thad replied only now turning to look at her face and seeing a look he never thought he'd see ever again, that being the look of a weary angry mom but in this case it would be a weary angry younger sister. 

''Your crazy!''. She simply replied.

Chapter Text

The room was dark and felt colder then usual, Melody slowly opened her eyes and she felt like she had barely slept. Her brothers words still weighing on her, about what he did yesterday going outside, getting himself in mortal danger again and worst of all talking and befriending one of those killing machines, for all they knew that one could have been the on to have killed their parents all those years back. She was hoping that he had joked with her yesterday but he wasn't and she just couldn't understand how or why.

She slowly got up, positioning herself upright and looked around her bed, looking at all her plushies and her new wall decoration. She had mixed emotions, joy at her time spent with Scarlet and even the idea that she herself could potentially go out to see the stars again but also worry and a bit of frustration about her brother. She didn't know what to do until her phone's alarm ringed, she found that strange at first because she didn't usual had one, after all Thad would be the one making sure that she was awake for school and breakfast but then she remembered, tomorrow would be prom so she this was the final day to prepare for it. 

She thought about it for a moment, ''Maybe it could help me clear my mind for a bit? And I'm sure Thad wouldn't go out and do something dumb again.'' she slowly got up from her bed her face still showing worry but also allowing a smile to form on it. 

After she freshened her self up in her bathroom and ready for the day, she left her room only to be meet with Thad who was about to knock at her door, he looked as if he was surprised to see her ''Oh! Hi Mel, uh I was just about to come wake you up.''. 

''Huh did I actually got up that early? Well no surprise since I could barely sleep being too worried about a certain meanie.'' Melody replied as she gave her brother a soft karate chop to the head.

''Heh, Ow. Sorry Mel, I really didn't mean to upset you, promise!'' Thad replied as he rubbed his head where she had hit him.

Melody didn't say anything, she only pouted and walked past him into the kitchen like an anime girl, Thad looked at her and thought to himself how he didn't see her pout like that since she was a child and how she used to be quiet the angry baby. 

The two siblings went into the kitchen and prepared their meal quietly, not exchanging a word with one another. Thad looked to his sister and could feel that he has truly upset her, the two then set down and began to eat when Thad began to talk again.

''I'm really sorry Mel, trust me I didn't plan on getting in danger again.'' Thad said giving his sister a sad look, hoping that his puppy eye's would earn her forgiveness. 

She looked at him, his green eyes looking back at her filled with guilt, she gave a sigh of frustration ''How did you get into that mess again?''. 

''Well like I said yesterday, I went back to the place to take a look at the night sky through the broken celling, before it got fixed. That's when I noticed that the body of the one Uzi killed started to crawl away and so I decided to go out and look for Uzi, seeing how she was the best bet to deal with it.'' Thad began explaining as Melody looked at him, all the while barely touching her food with her fork, ''It was surprisingly easy to get through the doors but that's not the point. Once I got to her and N, I told them all about it and brought them back to show them where I saw the body crawled towards to, before I knew it N shot a rocket off into the distance and the explosion showed just how big it was. It looked like so giant centipede, we all just stood there kinda shocked by it before a hand grabbed me and pulled me towards it and after that Uzi and N saved me, I ran for it and they finished it off.''. 

Melody looked away from him after he finished, her gaze was fixed towards her plate when she began to speak ''You keep calling it N, that Murder Machine. Thad how can you act to friendly with it, when it could have been the one that killed mom and dad?''. 

Thad's eyes widened and he leaned back a little, a minute passed before he spoke again ''I, I know Mel. I was thinking about it as I approached Uzi and saw him close to her. But then he began to talk, he was nothing like I had imagine one of them would be like Mel.'' Thad's eyes returned back to normal as he spoke about N, ''Honestly after only 5 minutes of talking with him it's impossible to imagine that he could actually hurt someone, well with malicious intent at least. The more time I spend with him the more he actually reminded me of.'' He looked directly at Melody as he was about to say the next part before stopping, his eyes hollowed out and he turned to look away from her.

''It reminded you of what Thad?'' Melody asked confused why he stopped and looked away from her in a panicked way. 

''He reminded me of you Mel, with how he acts, talks and just his overall demeanor. It really felt like I was talking to you. Minus him being taller and being able to kill me at any moment but aside from that it's shocking how similar you two are.'' Thad replied, all the while being worried how Melody would react. 

Melody was shell shocked by what Thad just said to say the least, to think that one of those Murder bots, an Angel of Death and suffering could be so similar to herself was more then terrifying and distressing to her to the point where her visor would show digital tears forming before she finally broke out crying. 

Thad quickly got up from his chair and rushed towards his sister to comfort her, her placed his hands around her shoulders and hugged her close to himself, ''Hey Mel there is no need to cry!!!''. 

''BUT YOU SAID THAT I WAS LIKE ONE OF THOSE MONSTERS!!!'' She continued to cry her heart, or in the Drone's case core out, while her face was pressed against her brothers chest. 

He began to rub the back of her head with one hand in order to calm her down ''No Mel I didn't say that, I said that he was like you, nothing like those others, N is a really good guy trust me please, I'm sure that if you two meet you'd become great friends.''. 

Melody slowly began to calm down, her tears would get less before after a little while longer fully coming to a stop, ''You promise that he isn't like the one that killed mom and dad, that he isn't a oil thirsty monster?'', she asked her brother, still not having moved her head from his chest.

''Pinky promise Mel.'' Thad said as he moved his sisters head away from himself to run his finger across her visor akin to how Humans would wipe tears of their loved ones. 

''O-Okey, I, I'll try Thad.'' She said still unsure about it but trusting her brother that N really was different.

The two would then slowly go back to to their at this point cold breakfast and finish it quickly before heading out to school but not before agreeing to go visit Uzi and N after the prom, to give Mel time to mentally prepare for the meeting with a Murder Drone. 

That school day seemed to go past Melody fast as nothing really interesting had happened or at least Melody wouldn't have had noticed it, as her mind was switching between thoughts about the prom and how she would ask out Scarlet and thinking about the potentially dangerous meeting with a Angel of Death who's behavior her brother compared to her own. To say that Melody's mind had been a roller coaster of emotions was an understatement. 

One class she felt anxious and happy at the thought of getting to dance with her crush and maybe even confessing her feelings and then in the next class she felt anxious and scared for her life at the thought that the Murder Drone would devour Thad like they did with her parents. The only two times when she got to think about anything else was during math class and the test she did not study for (a feeling I'm sure everyone reading this is familiar with) and cheerleader practice where it was near impossible not to have Lizzy's voice in your head. 

Once the school day finally ended and Melody was free from distraction of which there where only two, she began to walk down the hallway's of the bunker with one of her friends Danella a Drone that could be described to be tomboyish in nature as she much more preferred to spend her time with sport activities. 

''So Mel did you ask Scarlet out yet?'' Danella asked as she tried to balance a basketball on one finger.

''Wha! I, well. You see, I uuuh.'' Melody then proceeded to sigh and lowered her head in defeat, before giving a more coherent answer ''No, not yet.''. 

''Figures.'' Danella said with a smug smile. 

''Y-Yeah! Well have you asked out your crush to the prom yet?'' Melody immediately asked with a pouty face, ''Wait, who even is your crush? You haven't told me yet.''.

''Weeeeeell, you see.'' She hesitated for a moment before answering Melodies question, ''It's your brother Thad.'' she finally admitted with a slight blush on her screen. 

''WHAAAAAAAAT!?!?!?'' Melody's eyes formed into star shapes with the revelation of her friend having a crush on her brother, ''Why didn't you tell me before?'' she asked getting uncomfortably close.

''B-Because, Okay!'' Danella replied before gently pushed Melody a little off of her. 

''But why him though? You know he's kind of a meanie and a stinky boy!'' Mel proclaimed with the vigor of a sister still mad at her brother. 

''Well first of all, He's into sports like I am and I don't mind him being a bit stinky cuz I am to, so we can be stinky together after sports. Second he is your brother so he must be epic like you are!'' Melody blushed a little when Danella said that part, ''Thirdly, he's by far one of the nicer guy's around and infinitely braver and I really like that. Also meanie? What did he accidently put too much salt into your breakfast or something?''.

Melody's face shifted to a more serious one with that question ''No, he just got himself needlessly in danger two times.''.

''Oh!'' Danella could easily tell why that made Mel upset, as she  was one of the few Drones that didn't turn to being an asshole to deal with the trauma of being locked behind doors and walls to hide away for your whole life, she immediately put one arm around her friend to cheer her up ''Well don't worry about that Mel, cuz I'm gonna straiten him out. After all can't have my future prom date run of and get him self hurt or worry his sister.''. 

Melody smiled at her friend and thanked her, before the two had to part their way's. She had been slowly approaching the hallway where Scarlets dorm is, with each step her core's simulated heartbeat became both heavier and faster, her nerves and anxiousness slowly increased as she could see the final turn before reaching it. 

She tried to collect her self by taking in deep breaths and holding them in for a little while before exhaling again, not that she needed to breath but it still help her to relax, as she got closer however she could hear Scarlets voice and it sounded like she was talking to someone, the exact words she couldn't quit make out but she hoped that it wouldn't take long as she wanted to ask her in private. 

Once she reached the corner Melody decided to peak around a little to see who she was talking to, some other male Drone she hasn't seen before or at least doesn't remember but it did look like he was about to leave which was going to glad that she wouldn't have to wait long until she heard what it was they talked about. 

''And thanks again for going to the prom with me Scar!'' The other Drone said as he was waving Scarlet goodbye. 

''Yeah don't mention it dude.'' She replied before opening the door and going inside of her dorm. 

Melody just stood there, her eyes hollowed out as she processed what it was she heard. Her core suddenly felt heavy as if could drag her to the ground with it's weight and the hallway seemed to be spinning all around her. She finally dropped to her knees with tears forming on her visor.